Ex. 4.6. Fill in the gaps with the proper verb forms. Choose the verb from the box

Afford, Be (3), Become, Cost, Form, Get, Handle, Have, Lead (2), Make, Mention, Note, Post, Purchase, Require, Sell, Verse

Consumer to consumer e-commerce ___1___ many benefits. The business model of C2C ___2___ very interesting. The primary benefit which consumers ___3___ ___4___ reduction in cost as compared to buying space of their ads on other e-commerce sites which seem to be quite expensive. People interested in selling their items can ___5___ their respective items for free or with minimal charge depending on the C2C website. This ___6___ to formation of a profitable customer base. C2C websites ___7___ a perfect platform for buyers and sellers who wish to buy and sell products of similar interest. This ___8___ to increase in visitor to customer conversion ratio. Another benefit is that business owners can easily ___9___ the low cost of maintaining C2C websites and earn good profits instead of buying or hiring a shop which could ___10___ a lot. Another major plus point these websites have is that personal items like watch, shoes, etc., can ___11___ and ___12___ with ease which is not in case of other types of e-commerce.

There ___13___ a couple of disadvantages to these types of sites as well. Doing transaction on this type of websites ___14___ co-operation between the buyer and seller. It ___15___ many times that these two do not co-operate with each other after a transaction ___16___ . They do not share the transaction information which may be via credit or debit card or internet banking. This can result in online fraud since the buyer and seller not very well ___17___ with each other. This can lead to lawsuit being imposed on either ends or also on the site if it (not) ___18___ the disclaimer in its terms and conditions. This may also hamper the C2C website's reputation. Companies which ___19___ consumer to consumer e-commerce websites seem to ___20___ very cautious to prevent online scams.

Ex. 4.7. Fill in prepositions where necessary.

E-commerce refers ___1___ a wide range ___2___ online business activities ___3___ products and services. It also pertains ___4___ “any form ___5___ business transaction ___6___ which the parties interact ___7___ electronically rather than ___8___ physical exchanges or direct physical contact.”

E-commerce is usually associated ___9___ buying and selling ___10___ the Internet, or conducting ___11___ any transaction involving ___12___ the transfer ___13___ ownership or rights to use goods or services ___14___ a computer-mediated network. Though popular, this definition is not comprehensive enough to capture ___15___ recent developments ___16___ this new and revolutionary business phenomenon.

A more complete definition is: “E-commerce is the use ___17___ electronic communications and digital information processing technology ___18___ business transactions to create, transform, and redefine ___19___ relationships ___20___ value creation between or among organizations, and ___21___ organizations and individuals”.

Ex. 4.8. Match electronic commerce categories to their definitions. Then categorize four examples of e-commerce. Make similar sentences with other businesses.

Category		Description
Business-to-business (B2B)		Businesses sell products or services to governments and government agencies.

Business-to-consumer (B2C)		Businesses sell products or services to individual consumers.

Business-to-government (B2G)		Businesses sell products or services to other businesses.

Consumer-to-consumer (C2C)		Participants in an online marketplace can buy and sell goods to each other.

1) Walmart.com sells merchandise to consumers through its Web site.

2) Grainger.com sells industrial supplies to large and small businesses through its Web site.

3) e-Bay is an online commercial marketplace, often using an auction system.

4) CAL-Buy portal for businesses that want to sell online to the State of California.

Ex. 4.9. Fill in the gaps with the proper article (a, an, the) where necessary.

How is ___1___ Internet relevant to ___2___ e-commerce?

___3___ Internet allows ___4___ people from all over ___5___ world to get connected inexpensively and reliably. As ___6___ technical infrastructure, it is ___7___ global collection of ___8___ networks, connected to share ___9___information using ___10___ common set of ___11___ protocols. Also, as ___12___ vast network of ___13___ people and ___14___ information, ___15___ Internet is ___16___ enabler for ___17___ e-commerce as it allows ___18___ businesses to showcase and sell their products and services online and gives ___19___ potential customers, prospects, and ___20___ business partners access to ___21___ information about these businesses and their products and services that would lead to purchase. Before ___22___Internet was utilized for ___23___ commercial purposes, ___24___ companies used ___25___ private networks. However, installing and maintaining them was very expensive. With ___26___ Internet, ___27___ e-commerce spread rapidly because of ___28___ lower costs involved and because ___29___ Internet is based on ___30___ open standards.